Creative: Hainsworth, Bark&Bite, Ashworth & Bird

A MEN’S fashion retailer which first opened in Barnsley 75 years ago has invested in new product lines and recruiting additional staff.

Ashworth & Bird, in Eldon Street, has changed its name from Frank Bird Menswear under which it has traded since the Second World War after being acquired by an independent retail group Richard Clews.

Ashworth & Bird, which already offers brands including Hugo Boss and Ralph Lauren, will introduce another four labels over the coming months, including Scotch & Soda and 7 For All Mankind.

A new sales assistant post has recently been created. James Brown’s appointment takes the Barnsley team to 10.

The business’s development is being supported by Barnsley Business and Innovation Centre (BBIC) through the Enterprising Barnsley programme, which is funded by Barnsley Council.

The nine stores in the portfolio, which sell designer fashion and accessories for men, women and children, were all brought under the Ashworth & Bird banner last year. Other stores are in Reigate, Surrey, and Jersey.

Neil Tennant, general manager of Ashworth & Bird’s UK stores, said: “Offering outstanding customer service has kept our customers returning time after time and generation after generation and stands us miles apart from high street stores. This continues to be our number one priority as we look to the future.”

London fashion designer Jackie JS Lee has collaborated with textiles mill Hainsworth for her new collection.

Hainsworth MD Tom Hainsworth said: “It is the first time we have collaborated with Jackie and we’re delighted that she has used our cloth in so much of her stunning new collection. She is also using our labels and swing tickets on her garments.

“We are working with an increasing number of menswear fashion designers so it’s particularly exciting that this is our first women’s wear collaboration.”

Jackie was born in Seoul Korea and came to London to study at Central Saint Martin in 2007. Her MA Graduation Collection in 2010 was awarded the revered Harrods Award. She went on to launch her label J JS Lee featuring sleek and chic androgynous pieces in tailoring.

Hainsworth is working with a number of leading high fashion designers. Other fans of their fabrics include Christopher Raeburn, Jenny Schwarz, Katie Eary, A Sauvage and Baartmans & Siegel.

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Leeds-based studio Bark&Bite will next month launch its second location in the north.

The firm claims it will be the largest post production house outside of London.

Located in the centre of Manchester,Bark&Bite intends to carve out a niche by providing a London-grade facility to agencies and production companies.

The new studio will specialise in commercials, high end visual effects, motion graphics and sound mixing services for radio, broadcast and everything in between, all delivered in what it describes as ‘a seriously swish setting’.

Managing director Christian Knowles-Fitton says: “The North is now officially ours. We are at the top of our game and now adding a world class audio studio to our list of services.

“There is a common misconception within the industry that you have to head down South for quality work, despite half of London upping sticks to Salford. We’re here to give Soho a run for its money.”

Bark&Bite started in the ad world six years ago and has been, working with the likes of Sega, Ferrari, Nike, William Hill, Redbull, United Nations, Channel 4, Manchester United and Manchester City.